As many already know, studying for the physics GRE and getting accepted into a graduate program is not the final hurdle in your physics career.

There are many issues current physics graduate students face such as studying for their qualifier, deciding upon a field of research, choosing an advisor, being an effective teaching assistant, trying to have a social life, navigating department politics, dealing with stress, utilizing financial aid, etc.

Hi i am a post graduate in Physics from NIT(CGPA 8.45) and i did my bachelors in Physics from Delhi Univeristy(72%). I want to get a PhD position in some good university abroad but the problem is that my CV looks like that of a writer or a social worker. I have done one internship in Physics during my UG term but is that enough? Also i have worked on a project as part of my course curriculum in my PG studies. I am not sure whether i should go for higher research or not but that seems to be the only career option as of now since i am afraid of working as a teacher in some pvt school now. . I tried to personally mail to some profs abroad but they sent a negative reply. Will getting a decent GRE score help me? or i can avoid writing GRE? i am so much confused at the momemt. Please help me !!!!

I think the only pertinent piece of advice I would have is that PGRE score seems to matter more for international applicants applying to the US than it does for domestic students. Once you know your score you might be in a better position to consider your chances. Best of luck, I hope it works out!

Getting a decent GRE score will help you tremendously in getting your PhD position. You can read a lot of information about it over here. What I can recommend you additionally, is that you need to create a really good phd statement of purpose. It is a must if you are willing to achieve a PhD position.

Catria wrote:If you avoid the GRE altogether, then Europe may be your best bet (however I should warn you that non-EU residents are disadvantaged in EU universities)...

From my experience this only relates to the UK, outside the UK, most PhD funding does not depend on residency.

This might be technically true but I think it is a little misleading. For example, Canada is a country outside of the UK and residency does play a factor in graduate admissions. Non-Canadians have higher tuition in Canada (similar to the US but not as drastic of a difference) and therefore due to funding constraints, physics programs in Canada have limits on the number of spots they can offer to international students. So, because they offer the same take-home pay to all students, Canadian or not, the amount of funding does not depend on your residency, but whether or not you are admitted would depend on residency (Canadian programs generally do not admit students without funding, so one could argue admittance = funding, and if admittance depends on residency then funding depends on residency, indirectly).

Catria wrote:If you avoid the GRE altogether, then Europe may be your best bet (however I should warn you that non-EU residents are disadvantaged in EU universities)...

From my experience this only relates to the UK, outside the UK, most PhD funding does not depend on residency.

This might be technically true but I think it is a little misleading. For example, Canada is a country outside of the UK and residency does play a factor in graduate admissions. Non-Canadians have higher tuition in Canada (similar to the US but not as drastic of a difference) and therefore due to funding constraints, physics programs in Canada have limits on the number of spots they can offer to international students. So, because they offer the same take-home pay to all students, Canadian or not, the amount of funding does not depend on your residency, but whether or not you are admitted would depend on residency (Canadian programs generally do not admit students without funding, so one could argue admittance = funding, and if admittance depends on residency then funding depends on residency, indirectly).

I was actually talking specifically about Europe outside the UK quoting Catria's comment, I have no experience with Canada to be honest. A lot of european countries have no tuition fees, and a few of them have the same or very comparable tuition fees for home and overseas students which makes it easier for them to not take residency into account.